ASEE/ELD Conference

Conferencing isn't all fun and games, but it can be managed. This year's ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) conference was held in Pittsburgh. The ELD (Engineering Librarian Division) is a close-knit group of librarians engaged in engineering and technical operations all over the U.S.

There is someone who's project is to make sure the ELD group has a good time and meets each other. The day of my arrival, Sunday, a group of us headed to the National Aviary. The previous night, others had attended a Pirates baseball game @ the stadium not far from the David E. Lawrence Convention Center (LEED-certified, mind you -- GOLD!)

From there it was all good: great conference proceedings to choose from, my moderating a session on information literacy tools for the ELD division, my co-presenting a session to the Ethics division, attending division planning meetings and dinner @ the Heinz Museum. We got to tour all 7 floors of this fabulous place after the meal and banquet awards.

After the official end of the conference, I took 2 more days to visit and get acquainted with Pittsburgh: the Steel City diner, Warhol Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History, the Mattress Factory (fabulous contemporary installation art) the oldest Carnegie Library, dinner with ELDers @ the famous Duquesne Incline and dessert and cocktails @ the top restaurant, Monterey Bay, drinks later @ the Church Brewery (real, de-commissioned Catholic Church!), Lunch @ the Frick Art and Historical Center with ERAU colleague Dick, and of course the fabulous Cathedral of Learning and Nationality Rooms on U Pitt's campus. Along the way, I had NO BAD meal, enjoyed using the bus transit system and saw a Corvette classic car show on display near the Doubletree.

What was not to like @ the annual ASEE conference????

Summertime & the Living is Wakonse!

Was it just a couple of months ago that I was in Camp Tontozona in northern Arizona with Wakonse? Three days of celebration, creativity and learning. The motto for Wakonse is " Inspiration and support for college Teaching and Learning".

On Saturday, after 3 days of meetings, dinners, hiking and sharing, we created Chataqua: An evening of poetry and music. Those of us who learned to play a new instrument (I learned to play harmonica, others learned the drums and guitar.) Together with Wiley, we put together a concert, played music, sang and danced.

When it was all over, I made new friends, learned new academic tricks and came away ready to share with library colleagues. Every librarian should Wakonse!

The Christine & Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Library!

Is up and running!

Opening Day, March 26th, dawned cold and clear as students, faculty and the campus community wandered around the 35,000+ square foot facility, marveling at the blue stairwells, the glass walls with views of Granite Mountain, the self-checkout machine, the wide and inviting book shelves and the 40-computer Information Commons.

Barely two months later on May 3rd, 2008, a perfect Spring day -- warm and sunny, Dedication Day! Following graduation ceremonies on the Athletic field, we shuttled over to the new library to hear speeches by the Christine and Steven Udvar-Hazy, Sarah Thomas, Library Director and others, later stepping into the library for tours, celebratory champagne, roast turkey sandwiches and chocolate-covered strawberries. People raved!